Oak  Street 
i     UNCLASSIFIED 


Volume  V  OCTOBER-DECEMBER,  1919  Number  5 

Published  by  Randolpb-Macon  Woman's  College 

ISSUED  QUARTERLY 

BULLETIN  OF 

RANDOLPH  -  MACON 
WOMAN'S  COLLEGE 


LYNCHBURG,  VIRGINIA 


Of  mi 


ENGLISH  AND  AMERICAN  POLITICAL  IDEALS 

By  PROFESSOR  JAMES  FREDERICK  PEAKS 


IN    MEMORIAM 

PRESIDENT  WILLIAM  ALEXANDER  WEBB 
MRS.  WILLIAM  ALEXANDER  WEBB 


Entered   as    secoDd-class   matter,    January   5,    1915,  at  tlie  post-oflSce  at  Lynchburg,  Virginia,   under 
the  Act  of  August  24,  1912. 


BULLETIN 


OF 


RANDOLPH-MACON 
WOMAN'S  COLLEGE 


ENGLISH  AND  AMERICAN  POLITICAL  IDEALS 

By  Professor  James  Frederick  Peake 


IN  MEMORIAM 

President  William  Alexander  Webb 
Mrs.  William  Alexander  Webb 


Published  by  Randolph-Macon  Woman's  College 
lynchburg,  va. 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arcliive 
in  2013 


littp://arcliive.org/details/englisliamericanpOOpeak 


English  and  American  Political  Ideals 

By  professor  JAMES  FREDERICK  PEAKE 

WHEN  the  great  war  broke  on  the  world  in  the  summer 
of  1914,  thoughtful  persons  were  puzzled  by  the 
peculiar  turn  which  the  sympathy  of  the  American 
people  took.  Everyone,  of  course,  deeply  sympa- 
thized with  France;  most  Americans  were  anti-German,  but  at 
the  same  time  there  were  thousands  who  were  strongly  anti- 
English.  Many  who  wanted  Germany  to  lose  did  not  want  Eng- 
land to  win.  Even  after  we  entered  the  war  on  the  side  with 
England  and  thereby  proved  the  identity  of  our  interests  and 
ideals,  the  retort  was  made  that  the  United  States  was  forced  to 
go  to  war  to  make  the  world  safe  for  England. 

How  can  this  anti-English  feeling  be  explained?  Why  was  it 
that  England's  motives  and  purposes  were  so  completely  mis- 
understood in  the  country  where  this  was  least  to  be  expected? 
Many  explanations  have  been  offered  and  all  of  them  help  to 
answer  the  question,  but  probably  the  explanation  that  goes 
nearest  to  the  root  of  the  trouble  is  the  one  offered  by  Mr.  Alt- 
schul.  His  theory  was  that  the  misunderstanding  of  England  and 
her  ideals,  and  most  of  the  anti-English  feeling  in  this  country, 
are  due  to  the  superficial  and  even  false  teaching  of  history,  par- 
ticularly the  history  of  the  American  Revolution.  To  see  what 
there  might  be  in  this  theory  he  collected  some  93  representntive 
text  books  on  history  that  have  been  used  in  the  schools  of  the 
country  during  the  past  generation  and  sought  to  find  out  what 
they  taught  about  English-American  relations.  Studying  the  ac- 
count of  the  American  Revolution  as  given  in  these  books  he 
discovered  that  in  the  great  majority  of  them  the  struggb  be- 
tween England  and  America  was  very  superficially  and  falsely 
presented,  and  he  concluded  that  the  bias  and  prejudice  which 
Americans  have  thus  acquired  have  left  their  indelible  imi)res- 
sion  on  us.  As  a  logical  result  of  such  prejudice  we  have  in- 
herited the  belief  that  England  is  America's  ** hereditary 
enemy,"  that  she  has  always  been  opposed  to  freedom  and  that 


4  Bulletin 

she  is  a  big  greedy  land-grabbing  power  demanding  for  herself 
the  best  in  trade  and  territory  all  over  the  world.  A  greater  per- 
version of  historical  truth  can  hardly  be  imagined,  and  it  is  in 
the  hope  of  correcting  such  an  error  and  of  being  able  to  pay  a 
small  tribute  to  the  great  role  that  England  has  played  in  the 
extension  and  development  of  what  we  consider  the  highest 
ideals  in  government  that  the  present  brief  study  is  made.  No 
attempt  is  being  made,  and  no  attempt  need  be  made,  to  hold 
England  up  as  a  perfect  nation  without  sin  or  wrong.  Nations 
like  individuals  are  human,  they  make  mistakes  and  they  often 
yield  to  great  temptations,  but  just  as  an  individual  must  not  be 
judged  by  a  single  act  or  event  in  his  life,  so  a  nation's  entire 
history  must  be  taken  into  consideration  before  passing  judg- 
ment on  that  nation.  Viewed  in  this  light,  the  study  of  English 
political  history  can  lead  to  no  other  conclusion  than  that  Eng- 
land's work  and  influence  in  the  world  have  been  decidedl3^  for 
good  and  that  she  has  done  more  to  advance  the  principles  of 
law  and  free  government  than  any  other  nation.  Indeed,  "the 
English  have  been  leaders  in  the  political  civilization  of  the 
world."  Moreover  it  must  be  said  to  the  glory  of  England  that 
she  has  always  profited  by  her  mistakes,  she  has  learned  well 
the  lessons  of  her  experience  and  has  by  them  been  led  on  and 
on  to  the  practice  of  higher  ideals.  As  a  direct  result  of  the 
American  Revolution,  for  example,  England  carried  out 
thoroughgoing  democratic  reforms  in  her  government  at  home 
and  adopted  a  more  liberal  policy  toward  her  colonies  and  pos- 
sessions. In  1918  the  Earl  of  Derby,  British  Ambassador  to 
Prance  said:  "I  wish  to  thank  America  for  giving  us  the  best 
licking  we  ever  got.  It  has  done  us  both  a  lot  of  good.  We  are 
grateful  to  you  because  that  licking  taught  us  how  to  treat  our 
children ;  it  is  the  reason  why  we  have  Australia,  Canada  and 
South  Africa  fighting  beside  us  today." 

Now  what  are  the  facts  about  England's  political  ideals  and 
practice?  From  the  beginning  of  their  history  the  English  have 
been  champions  of  liberty,  self-government  and  law.  Political 
liberty  in  the  modern  sense  had  its  birth  in  Englandi,  and,  as  for 
law,   it  may  be  truly  said  that  the  English  are   a  people  to 


Randolph-Macon  Woman's  College  5 

whom  the  principle  of  the  reign  of  law  is  a  sacred  principle.  In 
theory  England  has  never  had  an  absolute  kingship.  If  in  times 
of  danger  the  people  have  permitted  certain  of  their  kings  to 
disregard  their  rights  and  rule  as  veritable  despots,  yet  when 
the  danger  passed  they  have  risen  up  and  successfull}^  asserted 
their  rights  to  liberty  and  freedom.  Magna  Charta,  the  Petition 
of  Right,  the  Bill  of  Rightsi,  represent  landmarks  in  the  struggle 
for  liberty  that  should  make  any  nation  proud.  And  the  prin- 
ciples embodied  in  these  immortal  documents  have  been  trans- 
planted and  upheld  wherever  Englishmen  have  gone.  The 
American  colonists  could  never  have  produced  such  documents 
as  the  Virginia  Bill  of  Rights  and  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence if  they  had  not  been  Englishmen  by  tradition  and  in- 
heritance. In  declaring  these  principles  to  the  world  they  were 
merely  expanding  the  English  doctrine  of  the  rights  of  English- 
men into  the  American  doctrine  of  the  Rights  of  Man.  Where 
did  we  get  the  rights  we  so  fondly  cherish  today — the  right  of 
trial  by  jury,  habeas  corpus,  freedom  of  speech  and  the  press? 
These  were  all  won  and  firmly  established  as  fundamental  Eng- 
lish doctrines  long  before  America  became  an  independent  state. 
As  Professor  George  Burton  Adams  says,  "All  that  is  funda- 
mental in  our  political  system — the  supremacy  of  law  over 
government,  the  representative  system,  individual  liberty,  the 
sovereignty  of  the  people — is  derived  form  England  and  from 
nowhere  else." 

But  English  liberty  has  not  been  confined  to  territory  ruled 
by  Anglo-Saxons.  One  of  the  primary  causes  of  the  French 
Revolution  was  the  doctrine  of  liberty  as  taught  and  practiced 
by  England.  Montesquieu,  the  great  French  political  philoso- 
pher of  the  18th  century,  glorified  English  institutions,  and  by 
contrasting  the  freedom  enjoyed  in  England  with  the  despotism 
prevailing  in  France  he  explained  and  accounted  for  the  prog- 
ress, prosperity  and  happiness  of  the  English  and  the  discontent 
and  backwardness  of  the  people  of  France.  His  work  the 
''Spirit  of  Laws"  was  in  reality  an  apotheosis  of  English  lib- 
erty, and  the  real  meaning  of  the  great  revolution  in  France  is 
that  the  French  people,  converted,  by  the  preaching  of  Mon- 


6  Bulletin 

tesquieu  and  the  practice  of  America,  to  the  English  ideal  of 
liberty,  added  to  it  their  own  ideal  of  equality  as  preached  by 
Rousseau  and  became  missionaries  of  what  seemed  to  them  a  new 
gospel.  Therefore,  it  is  no  mere  chance  that  England,  France 
and  America  have  been  associated  together  in  the  late  war  for 
human  liberty,  for  there  are  spiritual  bonds  that  make  these 
three  peoples  natural  allies,  and  these  bonds  all  had  their  origin 
in  England. 

Now  the  obstacle  over  which  most  people  stumble  is  the  fact 
that  the  United  States  and  England  have  been  at  war  twice  in 
their  history  and  have  been  on  the  verge  of  war  at  various 
other  times.  Therefore,  they  conclude,  England  and  America 
are  natural,  hereditary  enemies  and  have  always  stood  for  op- 
posing principles.  Though  the  former  facts  are  true,  the  latter 
conclusion  is  false. 

Many  of  our  school  histories  in  their  superficial  treatment  of 
the  American  Revolution  do  give  the  impression  that  in  that 
struggle  America  stood  for  liberty  and  England  for  despotism. 
Such  slogans  as  ''Grive  me  liberty  or  give  me  death"  and  "Re- 
sistance to  tyrants  is  obedience  to  God,"  are  apt  to  mislead  us 
unless  all  the  circumstances  are  known. 

Now  what  are  the  facts  in  the  case?  Fifteen  years  befor-)  the 
American  Revolution  began,  a  German  with  a  veneer  of  English 
learning  ascended  the  English  throne  as  George  III.  Imbued 
\\'ith  the  divine  right  idea  of  kingship  he  set  about  to  destroy 
the  ]i])erties  that  the  English  people  had  won  during  a  struggle 
of  more  than  500  years.  By  bribery  and  other  means  known  to 
the  politics  of  that  day  he  built  up  a  party  which  was  known 
as  the  "King's  Friends,"  but  which  was  the  enemy  of  the 
English  people  who  protested  and  resisted  this  attack  upon 
their  rights.  When  George  III  and  his  friends  attempted  to  ex- 
tend their  theory  of  government  to  America  they  found  the 
colonists  ready  to  resist  them  not  only  by  constitutional  argu- 
ments but  even  by  resort  to  war.  What  w^as  the  attitude  of  the 
English  people  in  this  struggle?  The  ablest  statesmen  in  the 
mother  country  and  the  true  representatives  of  the  English 
people — Pitt,  Fox,  Burke — openly  championed  the  cause  of  the 


Randolph-Macon  Woman ^s  College  7 

colonists,  expressed  delight  that  they  had  resisted  and  rejoiced 
when  they  won.  And  why  ?  Because  they  saw  that  the  American 
colonists  were  upholding  and  fighting  for  the  rights  of  the  Eng- 
lish people  as  well  as  their  own.  They  saw  that  if  George  Ill's 
attempt  failed  in  America  his  system  of  government  would  be 
overthrown  in  England,  and  that  the  reforms  which  they  had 
been  working  for  could  not  be  withheld.  The  three  great  reform 
bills  of  the  19th  century  which  made  England  a  thorough-going 
democracy  prove  that  they  were  right.  The  American  Revolu- 
tion, therefore,  was  not  a  war  between  England  and  America, 
it  was  a  war  between  America  and  a  government  in  England 
which  did  not  represent  the  English  people  but  which  on  the 
contrary  was  hostile  to  all  their  best  traditions.  As  recently 
expressed  by  an  old  Londoner,  the  American  Revolution  was  due 
entirely  to  ''the  stultified  'ouse  of  'Anover."  Therefore,  in- 
stead of  being  a  cause  for  ill  feeling,  the  American  Revolution 
should  have  convinced  the  English  and  Americans  of  the  identity 
of  their  ideals.  It  preserved  Anglo  Saxon  rights  for  England, 
America  and  the  world  at  a  time  when  they  were  in  danger  of 
being  trodden  under  foot. 

We  went  to  war  again  with  England  in  1812,  but  the  less 
said  about  that  affair  the  better  for  us,  for  there  is  nothing  con- 
nected with  it  that  brings  any  glory  to  the  United  States.  When 
we  declared  that  war  on  England  we  had  more  just  cause  to  de- 
clare war  on  Napoleon,  but  we  had  so  completely  lost  our  pa- 
tience and  had  become  so  exasperated  with  the  entire  situation 
in  Europe  that  we  were  determined  to  fight  somebody,  but  un- 
fortunately we  chose  the  wrong  enem.y.  What  we  should  Lave 
done  was  what  we  recently  did,  viz.,  join  Avith  England  who  was 
fighting  then  as  later  a  life  and  death  struggle  with  an  Europ-^an 
despot,  not  alone  for  her  own  existence  but  for  the  freedom  of 
all  European  nations. 

Apparently,  however,  that  "War  of  1812"  was  worth  all  it 
cost,  for  it  was  the  last  war  between  the  two  divisions  of  the 
English-speaking  peoples  and  it  taught  them  to  respect  the 
ideals  of  each  other  and  that  their  interests  and  mission  in  the 
world  are  so  similar  that  whatever  differences  might  arise  be- 


8  Bulletin 

tween  them  in  the  future  could  and  should  be  settled  by  arbi- 
tration instead  of  by  war. 

A  clear  distinction  must  always  be  made  between  the  English 
people  and  the  English  government  before  that  government  was 
democratized.  The  English  people  have  always  been  friendly  to 
the  United  States  because  they  have  recognized  that  the  people  of 
the  two  countries  have  common  aims  and  ideals.  But  before  the 
second  great  Reform  Act  in  1867,  which  brought  the  Enc,4ish 
government  into  hannony  with  the  English  people,  that  go\em- 
ment  often  showed  an  unfriendly  attitude  toward  the  United 
States,  because  it  knew  that  the  success!  of  democracy  in 
America  would  spell  defeat  for  aristocracy  in  England.  The 
English  government,  though  not  the  English  people,  was^  afraid 
of  American  democracy  and  it  was  the  fear  of  American  de- 
mocracy that  caused  the  English  government  to  hope  for  the 
success  of  the  southern  Confederacy.  But  almost  immediately 
after  the  Reform  Bill  of  1867  became  a  law  the  English  govern- 
ment agreed  to  arbitrate  not  only  the  serious  questions  that 
arose  between  England  and  the  United  States  during  the  Civil 
War,  but  also  all  outstanding  questions  between  the  two 
countries. 

Several  explanations  have  been  given  for  what  is  called  Eng- 
land's ''backdown''  in  the  Venezuelan  controversy.  Some  one 
has  said  that  it  was  due  to  Lord  Salisbury's  sense  of  humor.  An- 
other has  attributed  it  to  the  Balance  of  Power  in  Europe.  But 
undoubtedly  a  consideration  that  had  great  weight  with  the 
foreign  secretary  was  the  belief  that  the  English  people  would 
not  support  a  war  with  the  United  States.  That  the  feeling 
against  the  United  States  at  that  time  was  not  very  strong  may 
be  judged  by  the  warm  sympathy  and  hearty  support  given  us 
by  both  the  English  government  and  the  English  people  thrcB 
years  later  in  our  war  with  Spain. 

If  anything  more  were  needed  to  convince  the  two  peoples  of 
the  identity  of  ideals  and  interests  it  was  furnished  by  the  great 
World  War.  Not  the  least  of  the  benefits  derived  from  this  last 
war  is  the  fact  that  it  has  revealed  the  different  nations  to  the 
world  in  their  true  light.   It  has  made  each  nation  declare  itself. 


Randolph-Macon  Woman's  College  9 

It  has  thrown  a  great  light  upon  the  peoples  of  the  world  which 
has  enabled  iis  to  see  their  very  souls.  When  this  war  began  the 
issues  were  so  beclouded  that  few  of  us  understood  the  real  issues 
at  stake.  Most  of  us  looked  for  selfish  motives  and  the  desire  for 
material  gain.  But  the  war  had  not  gone  on  very  long  before  we 
discovered  that  the  most  fundamental  issues  were  at  stake, 
reaching  to  the  very  heart  of  Christian  civilization.  We  saw  that 
fundamental  principles  of  government  were  at  war — autocracy 
was  fighting  for  existence  against  the  world  tide  of  democracy. 
Indeed,  we  saw  that  the  real  issue  was  a  moral  one — should 
right  depend  upon  mere  might,  should  brute  force  rule  the 
world  or  should  there  be  established  the  reign  of  law.  It  is 
possible  that  England  might  have  been  drawn  into  this  war  even 
if  Belgium  had  not  been  invaded,  for  her  existence  might  have 
been  threatened.  The  whole  world  knows  that  the  defeat  of 
France  and  Russia  was  only  a  step  in  the  German  plan,  to  be 
followed  by  the  conquest  of  England  and  then  by  a  war  with 
the  United  States.  But  however  that  may  be,  it  cannot  be  denied 
that  the  cause  which  led  England  to  enter  the  war  was  not  pri- 
marily her  own  interests,  but  the  defense  of  a  law  that  Germany 
and  England  had  both  solemnly  agreed  to  keep.  A  treaty  may 
be  ''a  scrap  of  paper"  to  a  German,  but  to  an  Englishman  a 
treaty  is  a  sacred  obligation.  England  entered  the  war  to  de- 
fend the  idiea  of  a  public  law  of  Europe  and  for  the  small  na- 
tions which  that  law  protects.  That  her  own  interests  may  have 
been  served  at  the  same  time,  should  not  detract  from  the  no- 
bility of  her  motive.  A  high  and  responsible  English  authority 
stateisi:  ''Our  cause,  as  one  would  expect  from  a  people  that  has 
fought  out  its  own  internal  struggles  under  the  forms  of  law, 
is  a  legal  cause.  We  are  a  people  in  whose  blood  the  cause  of  law 
is  the  vital  element.  It  is  no  new  thing  in  our  history  that  we 
should  fight  for  that  cause.  When  England  and  Revolutionary 
France  went  to  war  in  1793  the  cause,  on  the  side  of  EngUaid, 
was  a  legal  cause.  We  fought  for  the  public  law  of  Europe  as 
it  had  stood  since  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  in  1648."  Today  in 
the  same  cause  "England  has  drawn  her  sword"  again.  "How 
could  she  have  done  otherwise,  with  those  traditions  of  law  so 


10  Bulletin 

deep  in  all  Anglo-Saxon  blood — traditions  as  real  and  as  vital 
to  Anglo-Saxon  America  as  to  Anglo-Saxon  England." 

And  did  England  slack  in  this  struggle?  Did  she  hold  back 
and  allow  the  other  nations  to  bear  the  brunt  of  this  war"  In 
spite  of  the  fact  that  next  to  France,  England  suffered  most  in 
the  late  war,  these  charges  have  been  made  against  her.  But  cer- 
tainly a  nation  that  can  announce  an  official  casualty  list  among 
her  land  forces  alone  of  3,049,000  including  more  than  658,000 
actually  killed,  has  come  pretty  near  to  doing  her  duty ! 

But  if  England  had  not  sent  a  soldier  to  France  or  to  any  of 
the  other  theaters  of  the  war,  the  work  of  her  navy  would  have 
been  no  mean  contribution  to  the  great  cause.  The  task  of  driv- 
ing the  German  flag  from  the  sea.s,  of  conducting  the  most  diffi- 
cult blockade  known  to  history,  of  overcoming  the  submarine 
menace  is  a  task  that  is  entitled  to  the  highest  praise.  How 
much  food  or  amnuuiition  could  have  been  transported  to  the 
allies  if  England  had  not  controlled  the  seas !  How  many 
American  soldiers  would  have  landed  safe  in  France  without 
the  aid  of  the  British  fleet !  The  Great  War  was  won  as  much 
by  allied  superiority  on  sea  as  on  land  and  that  superiority  on 
sea  was  made  possible  onlv  bv  the  British  navy.  Far  more 
hujniliating  than  the  surrender  of  Germany's  army  while  on 
foreign  soil  was  the  surrender  of  the  German  fleet  which  sub- 
mitted without  daring  to  risk  a  battle. 

England's  close  proximity  to  the  continent  of  Europe  has 
compelled  her  to  take  deep  interest  and  often  to  participate  in 
movements  that  have  more  directly  concerned  the  nation.^  on 
the  continent.  But  her  sympathy  has  always  been  on  the  side  of 
liberty,  s'lf-government  and  deiuocraey.  England  remained  a 
member  of  the  Quadruple  Alliance  until  that  alliance  announced 
as  its  chief  purj)()se  the  suppression  of  li])eral  movements  wher- 
ever they  might  appear.  Then  England  not  only  withdrew  from 
that  alliance  but  she  immediately  offered  to  form  a  counter  alli- 
ance with  the  United  States  to  defend  republicanism  in  the  west- 
ern hemisphere  and  to  counteract  the  reactionary  influence  of 
the  despotic  powers  of  Europe.  The  Greeks  in  their  struggle  for 
independence  got  not  only  sympathy  ])ut  substantial  assi^-tance 


Randolpji-Macon  Woman  ^s  College  11 

from  Eugland.  When,  about  the  same  time,  Belgium  revolted 
from  the  unnatural  union  she  had  been  forced  to  make  with 
Holland,  England  was  an  outspoken  champion  of  that  instance 
of  national  self-determination.  Such  exiled  heroes  a®  Kossuth, 
Shurz,  Garibaldi,  whose  only  crime  was  devotion  to  liberty, 
found  the  same  welcome  in  England  as  in  the  United  States. 
Therefore  the  triumph  of  the  allies  in  this  war  is  the  triumph  of 
the  ideals  for  which  England  as  well  as  America  has  ah^^ays 
stood.  The  principles  to  which  the  allies  are  committed  in  the 
resettlement  of  the  world  are  the  principles  that  England, 
Prance  and  America  have  advocated  all  through  the  19th  cen- 
tury. A  high  authority  writing  in  1917  but  foreseeing  the  tri- 
umph of  the  allies  asks  this  question: — "Now  that  the  world  has 
been  made  one  by  the  victory  of  western  civilization,  in  what 
spirit  is  that  supremacy  to  be  used?  Is  is  to  be  used  in  the 
spirit  expressed  in  the  German  doctrine  of  Power,  the 
spirit  of  mere  dominion  ruthlessly  imposed  and  ruthlessly  ex- 
ploited for  the  sole  advantage  of  the  master  power?  That  way 
lies  ruin.  Or  is  it  to  be  in  the  spirit  which  has  on  the  whole,  and 
in  spite  of  lapses,  guided  the  progress  of  western  civilization  in" 
the  past — the  spirit  of  the  respect  for  law  and  for  the  rights  of 
the  weak,  the  spirit  of  liberty  Avhich  rejoices  in  variety  of  type 
and  method  and  which  believes  that  the  destiny  towards  which 
all  people  should  be  guided  is  that  of  self-government  in  free- 
dom, and  the  co-operation  of  free  peoples  in  the  maintenance  of 
common  interests?  Britain,  France  and  America  have  beer,  the 
great  advocates  and  exponents  of  these  principles  in  the  govern- 
ment of  their  own  states :  they  are  all  ranged  on  one  side  today. " 

But  in  addition  to  the  foundation  of  liberty  and  devotioji  to 
ihe  principles  of  law  and  self-government,  colonial  expansion 
has  been  a  particular  achievement  for  England,  and  in  building 
up  the  most  remarkable  empire  the  w^orld  has  ever  known  Eng- 
land has  been  guided  by  these  same  ideals.  Even  in  the  17th 
century  when  modem  colonization  began  and  the  European 
powers  were  vieing  with  one  another  for  colonial  suprem.acy, 
England  wa®  by  far  the  most  liberal  of  these  powers  towards 
her  colonies.    Tn  spite  of  the  absurd  and  unpopular  Navigation 


12  Bulletin 

Acts  it  is  the  judgment  of  history  that  **the  English  system 
was  more  enlightened  and  far  less  selfish  and  harsh  than  that  of 
Holland,  France  or  Spain.''  Indeed  in  the  opinion  of  many  the 
American  colonists  were  more  benefited  than  injured  by  the 
commercial  restrictions  of  the  mother  country.  The  fact  that  in 
all  the  American  colonies  a  large  number,  and  in  some  of  the 
colonies  a  majority  of  the  people  remained  loyal  to  England 
during  the  Revolutionary  War,  even  enduring  loss  of  property 
and  exile  is  evidence  that  the  colonial  policy  of  England  was 
not  wholly  bad.  But  England  learned  a  lesson  from  the  Ameri- 
can Revolution,  for  it  has  been  declared  that  by  losing  her 
American  colonies  England  gained  an  empire^ — an  empire  that 
is  nothing  short  of  a  marvel  in  political  organization.  Indeed 
the  British  Empire  today  is  **not  an  Empire  in  the  old  sense — 
a  dominion  imposed  by  force  upon  unwilling  subjects.''  It  is 
rather  "a  commonwealth  of  nations,"  a  '^ free-partnership  of 
self-governing  peoples  held  together  not  by  force  but  in  part  by 
common  interests,  and  in  a  still  higher  degree  by  common  cjenti- 
ment  and  the  possession  of  the  same  institutions  of  liberty." 
England  has  established  in  Canada,  Australia,  South  Africa, 
governments  that  make  the  people  of  these  colonies  as  free  as 
the  people  of  England  or  America.  The  satisfaction  of  all  parts 
of  the  British  Empire  with  their  political  conditions  and  their 
gratitude  and  loyalty  to  the  mother  country  was  tested  v.  hen 
the  Great  War  began.  Instead  of  revolting  as  Germany  ex- 
pected they  would  do,  instead  of  remaining  neutral  as  they 
might  have  done,  they  voluntarily  put  at  England's  disposal 
all  their  resources  in  manpower  and  wealth.  The  sacrifice  made 
in  the  w^ar  by  all  these  parts  of  the  Empire  refutes  every  sug- 
gestion of  greed,  selfishness  or  oppression  on  the  part  of  Eng- 
land towards  her  colonies.  Well  may  it  be  said,  therefore,  that 
"Greater  Britain  is  not  a  mere  empire,  though  we  often  call  it 
so.  Its  union  is  of  a  more  vital  kind."  Gen.  Smuts,  a  bitter 
enemy  of  England  during  the  South  African  War,  but  now  a 
strong  champion  of  British  imperial  policy,  has  declared,  "The 
British  Empire  is  not  founded  on  might  or /force,  but  on  moral 
principles — on   principles  of  freedom,  equality  and  equity.    It 


Randolph-Macon  Woman  ^s  College  13 

is   these    principles   that   we   stand   for   today   in   the   mighty- 
struggle.  ' ' 

But  it  is  not  alone  in  the  English  speaking  parts  of  her  Em- 
pire that  England  has  established  her  peculiar  institutions, — 
she  has  made  great  progress  toward  this  end  in  her  government 
of  those  parts  where  conditions  are  so  entirely  different.  British 
rule  in  India  has  been  severely  criticised  and  even  called  worse 
than  Russian  despotism,  but  those  who  cannot  see  the  boun.'lless 
good  that  English  rule  has  brought  to  India  are  either  super- 
ficial in  their  judgment  or  hopelessly  prejudiced.  No  country 
has  ever  faced  the  problems  that  England  has  faced  in  her  efforts 
to  establish  law  and  government  in  India.  Mistakes  have  heen 
made  and  injustice  has  been  done  of  course,  but  the  most  in- 
telligent natives  of  India  today  realize  that  in  spite  of  all  this 
the  country  is  infinitely  better  off  than  it  would  be  if  English 
authority  were  withdrawn,  and  many  of  them  are  proud  of  being 
British  subjects.  The  story  is  told  of  an  Italian  journalist  who 
visited  the  British  lines  in  France  in  1917  and  who  reported  a 
conversation  he  had  with  a  Hindu  chief.  He  asked  this  Hindu; 
"Are  you  content  to  come  here  in  a  country  which  is  not  vours 
to  serve  the  interests  of  a  nation  which  dominates  your 
people?"  With  high  spirit  he  replied :  " India  is  not  dominated. 
She  is  a  part  and  not  the  least  part  of  a  great  empire.  If  the 
Empire  were  threatened  in  India,  English  soldiers  would  be  there 
to  defend  us.  It  is  now  threatened  in  Europe  and  we  have  come 
here  to  fight  for  it.    We  are  English." 

In  a  recent  book  the  following  statement  appears:  "Bishop 
Warne,  of  Lucknow,  tells  how  his  daughter  at  the  outbreak  of 
the  War  hung  a  laige  map  of  the  world  in  her  study,  on  which 
she  was  accustomed  to  trace  the  progress  of  the  armies  on  the 
various  fronts,  and  how  prominent  natives  from  far  and  near 
would  come  in  and  ask  to  have  her  explain  the  latest  news  and 
indicate  on  the  map  where  the  Indian  troops  were  en- 
gaged. One  day  an  aged  man  from  a  far  city  in  the 
north  arrived  and  inquired  how  things  were  going  for 
the  Allies.  When  all  was  explained  he  expressed  his 
gratitude     and     then     on     the     supposition     that     she     was 


14  Bulletin 

English  he  delivered  himself  on  this  wise :  '  I  have  com'i  on 
a  long  journey  to  learn  these  things  and  I  want  you  to  know 
that  my  heart  is  full.  "When  you  go  back  to  England  and  see 
your  King  I  want  you  to  deliver  this  message  from  me.  Say, 
"My  grandfather  lived  under  the  British  raj;  my  father  lived 
under  the  British  raj ;  I  have  lived  all  my  life  under  the  British 
raj,  and  my  children  are  living  under  the  British  raj  today.  In 
all  these  years  we  have  had  justice,  protection,  peace  and  plenty. 
Tell  the  King  that  we  Indians  are  grateful  for  his  rule  over  our 
land,  and  that  w^e  will  stand  by  him  to  the  very  end.'  " 

If  England  has  done  nothing  more  for  India  she  has  forced 
the  numerous  tribes  to  keep  peace  which  they  could  not  do  if 
left  to  themselves;  she  has  established  a  better  system  of  law 
than  the  people  of  India  could  ever  have  established  by  them- 
selves ;  and  she  has  brought  to  the  country  European  civilization. 
In  ''The  Expansion  of  Europe"  Ramsay  Muir  says  British  rule 
in  India  "has  brought  iteace  instead  of  turmoil,  law  instead  of 
arbitrary  might,  unity  instead  of  chaos,  freedom  for  the  de- 
velopment of  the  capacities  and  characteristic  ideas  of  their 
people  and  the  prospect  of  a  steady  growth  of  national  and  po- 
litical responsibility. ' ' 

But  why  not  give  India  self  government '!  Because  self  s^ov- 
emment  is  something  that  cannot  be  given  to  any  people.  It  is 
something  a  people  must  be  prepared  for,  and  such  preparation 
cannot  be  made  in  a  year  or  even  in  a  generation  by  a  people 
who  for  centuries  have  not  known  even  the  meaning  of  self  gov- 
ernment. It  would  be  more  criminal  for  England  to  grant  self 
government  or  independence  to  India  now  than  it  Avould  be  for  the 
United  States  to  grant  independence  to  the  Philippine  Islands  in 
their  present  condition.  In  both  cases  either  arnachy  would 
result  or  the  country  would  be  conquered  by  a  ]K)wer  that  w^ould 
exploit  it  for  all  it  is  worth.  And  this  the  most  intelligent  peo- 
ple of  India  realize.  Mr.  Walter  Lippman  in  his  little  book  "The 
Stakes  of  Diplomacy"  mentions  a  conversation  he  had  wiih  a 
native  on  the  subject  of  British  rule  in  India.  Losing  his  pa- 
tience, the  Hindu  exclaimed,  "I  had  rather  be  in  hell  than  to 
be  in  the  British  Empire."    How  about  being  in  the  Knssian  or 


Randolph-Macon  Woman's  College  15 

the  German  empires?  Mr.  Lippman  asked.  "I  have  thought  of 
that,"  he  replied,  ''and  therefore  I  am  a  loyal  subject  of  the 
British  Crown." 

The  duty  of  England  to  India  and  of  the  United  States  to  the 
Philippines  is  to  regard  themselves  as  trustees  or  guardians  of  these 
politically  backward  people,  train  and  develop  in  them  a  ca- 
pacity for  free  government  and  extend  this  boon  to  them  as 
soon  as  they  are  prepared  for  it.  That  this  is  the  purpose  of 
England  no  one  who  is  familiar  with  public  sentiment  in  Eng- 
land today  can  deny,  and  remarkable  progress  in  this  direction 
has  already  been  made.  The  authors  of  a  recent  work  on  free 
government  declare:  ''The  spirit  which  finds  expression  in  the 
self-governing  dominions  is  being  diffused  throughout  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  British  possessions  in  general.  Democracy  in 
England  inevitably  seeks  to  provide  for  the  training  of  the  peo- 
ple of  India  and  the  Crown  Colonies  for  local  autonomy  and 
for  ultimate  self-government."  An  official  report  made  to  Par- 
liament last  year  (1918)  and  favorably  received  stated:  "Our 
conception  of  the  eventful  future  of  India  is  a  sisterhood  of 
states,  self-governing  in  all  matters  of  purely  local  or  pro- 
vincial interest Over  this  congeries  of  state  would  pre- 
side a  central  government,  increasingly  representative  of  and  re- 
sponsible to  the  people  of  all  of  them ;  dealing  with  matters,  both 
internal  and  external,  of  common  interest  to  the  whole  of  India ; 
acting  as  arbiter  in  interstate  relations,  and  representing  the  in- 
terest of  all  India  on  equal  terms  with  the  self-governing  units 
of  the  British  Empire." 

What  has  England  done  in  this  direction  already?  The  gov- 
ernment of  India  since  1878  has  been  carried  on  "by  a  small 
body  of  British  officials  among  whom  leading  Indians  have  been 
gradually  taking  their  place  and  who  work  in  detail  through  an 
army  of  minor  officials  nearly  all  of  Indian  birth  and  selected 
without  regard  to  race  or  creed."  In  1893  the  first  general 
election  of  representative  members  to  the  Indian  Legislative 
Councils  took  place,  and  the  Indian  Councils  Act  of  1909  ad- 
mitted a  much  larger  number  of  elected  native  representatives 
to  these  councils  and  established  the  principle  that  one  of  the 


16  Bulletin 

six  members  of  the  viceroy 's  executive  council  should  be  a  native 
of  India.  IMoreover,  the  new  British  Cabinet  created  in  De- 
cember, 1918,  has  a  native  Indian  as  Under-Secretary  of  State. 
The  fact  that  throughout  the  Great  War,  in  spite  of  German 
efforts  to  stir  up  revolution,  India  not  only  remained  loyal,  but 
furnished  more  than  a  million  troops  to  fight  side  by  side  with 
the  English  troops  is  evidence  of  what  India  thinks  of  her  place 
in  the  British  Empire. 

And  what  profit  does  England  derive  from  India  and  from 
her  other  possessions?  These  dependencies  though  they  are  pro- 
tected by  the  British  navy  are  not  tributary.  ''Normally  each 
colony,  whether  self-governing  or  not,  is  self-supporting.  It 
contributes  nothing  to  the  imperial  treasury  and  the  mother 
country  defrays  no  part  of  the  cost  of  its  administration.  India, 
for  example,  maintains  the  British  troops  stationed  there,  and 
pays  both  the  salaries  of  English  officials  in  her  service  and 
their  retiring  pensions  when  they  leave ;  but  although  this  may 
be  an  advantage  to  England,  the  money  is  spent  solely  on  the 
government  of  India  and  in  principle  at  least  for  her  benefit." 
*'The  profit  that  England  derives  from  her  dependencies  does 
not  come  in  the  form  of  tribute,  but  of  enlarged  opportunities 
for  her  citizens." 

Therefore,  the  same  political  ideals  that  have  been  so  com- 
pletely realized  in  England  and  in  her  self-governing  colonies 
are  being  followed  in  the  government  of  everj^  part  of  the  Brit- 
ish Empire.  Now  that  England'  has  acquired  a  free  hand  in 
Egypt  she  will  begin  preparing  the  people  of  that  country  for 
a  real  partnership  in  her  great  empire,  and  if  Ireland  can  ever 
agree  upon  a  plan  of  self-government  for  herself  she  will  be 
numbered  among  England's  self-governing  dominions.  When 
we  review  our  own  history,  first  before  1898,  and  then  since  we 
acquired  colonial  possessions,  we  can  see  that  we  have  been 
guided  by  identically  the  same  political  ideals  in  both  our  do- 
mestic and  foreign  policy. 

Moreover,  back  of  our  common  political  ideals  and  largely  re- 
sponsible for  them,  are  common  moral  ideals,  for,  as  Lord  Bryce 
has  pointed  out,  England  and  the  United  States  have  always 


Randolph-Macon  Woman  ^s  College  17 

been  at  one  in  their  moral  standards  for  "Neither  of  them  has 
ever  questioned  the  sanctity  of  treaties  or  denied  that  states  are 
bound  by  the  moral  law." 

Therefore  the  time  has  come  for  us  to  be  fair  and  to  tell  the 
truth  about  England,  her  ideals  and  her  work  in  upholding 
these  idealsi.  If  our  histories  and  teaching  have  been  superficial 
or  false  they  should  be  revised  and  England's  part  in  encourag- 
ing and  establishing  liberty  and  free  government  in  the  world 
should  be  acknowledged.  Also  the  time  has  come  for  us  to  recog- 
nize not  the  few  things  that  tend  to  separate,  but  rather  the  many 
ties  that  bind  England  and  the  United  States  into  a  natural 
alliance.  Why  should  not  people  who  have  the  same  language 
and  institutions  as  a  common  heritage,  and  who  stand  for  the 
same  political  and  international  ideals  recognize  their  kinship? 
When  they  do,  not  only  will  the  peace  and  safety  of  each  of 
these  two  countries  be  secure,  but  the  peace  of  the  future  world 
and  the  development  of  this  future  world  "along  progressively 
democratic  lines"  will  be  guaranteed. 

That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  two  nations  to  recognize  their  com- 
mon aims  and  ideals  and  to  work  together  to  their  common  ends 
is  a  lesson  taught  by  the  recent  war.  "The  war  has  taught  us 
clearly — two  things,"  says  Prof.  Geo.  B.  Adams.  "One  is  that  the 
United  States  and  England,  the  people  of  America  and  the  people  of 
the  British  Empire,  are  so  nearly  alike  in  their  fundamental  politi- 
cal ideas,  aims  and  institutions,  in  their  attitude  towards  questions 
of  foreign  relations  and  their  intentions  towards  other  nations, 
that  a  common  policy  in  relation  to  all  the  rest  of  the  world 
would  be  as  easily  formed  between  them  and  as  easily  conducted 
as  between  New  York  and  Iowa,  or  any  two  of  our  states. 

*  *  The  second  thing  which  the  war  has  taught  us  clearly  is  that 
had  such  a  union  in  international  policy  existed  at  the  beginning 
of  1914  between  all  the  English  speaking  peoples — there  W(.uld 
have  been  no  war. " 

Whether  within  a  League  of  Nations  or  without  it  England 
and  the  United  States  are  natural  allies.  And  their  alliance  is 
not  of  the  transitory  kind  resulting  from  treaty  or  agreement,  but 
it  is  based  upon  ties  and  instincts  so  fundamental  as  to  be  of  a 


18  Brrj.ETiN 

permanent  character.  In  1913,  before  the  Great  War  revealed 
this  fact  to  us  all,  Mr.  Bryce  said: — "There  is  a  friendship  of 
governments  and  a  friendship  of  nations.  The  former  may  shift 
with  the  shifting  of  material  interests  or  be  affected  by  the  re- 
lations of  each  power  with  other  powers.  But  the  latter  rests  on 
solid  and  permanent  foundations.  With  our  two  peoples  it  is 
based  on  a  community  of  literature,  of  institutions,  of  beliefs, 
of  traditions  from  the  past,  of  ideals  for  the  future.  In  all  these 
things  the  British  and  American  peoples  are  closer  than  any 
two  other  peoples  can  be.  Nature  and  history  have  meant  tliem 
to  be  friends." 

Therefore :  ' '  Given  two  democracies,  speaking  .the  same  lan- 
guage, familiar  with  the  same  literature,  having  frequent  and 
easy  commercial  intercourse  with  one  another  and  above  all  able 
when  they  choose  to  make  their  will  avail  with  the  governing 
classes  to  whom  they  delegate  their  authority,  it  would  be 
strange  if  they  could  not  rise  above  selfish  futilities  of  bureau- 
cratic foreign  policy  and  strike  up  a  formula  of  concord  which 
they  know  to  be  in  the  common  interest  of  all."^ 

''The  English-speaking  peoples  of  the  world  are  together  the 
largest  body  of  human  beings  among  whom  a  nearly  complete 
intellectual  and  moral  understanding  is  already  achieved.  They 
have  reached  high  attainments  in  science  and  the  arts,  in  edu- 
cation, in  social  order,  in  justice.  They  are  highly  organized, 
they  cherish  the  same  traditions  of  their  common  history.  To 
permit  anything  to  endanger  the  moral  solidarity  of  this  nucleus 
of  a  perfected  internationalism  would  be  a  crime  unspeakable. "- 


^Quoted  in  Beer,  "The  English-Speaking  Peoples,*'  page  298.      Ubid. 


31tt  ilpmonam 


WILLIAM  ALEXANDER  WEBB,  LiTT.  D.,  LL.  D. 
President  Randolph-Macon  Womans  College 


JULY  30,  1867 
NOVEMBER   4,   1919 


20  Bulletin 


RESOLUTIONS  ADOPTED   BY  THE   EXECUTIVE   COM- 
MITTEE AND  ALUMNAE  ADVISORS  OF  RAN- 
DOLPH-MACON WOMAN'S  COLLEGE 

At  a  called  meeting  of  the  executive  committee  and  the 
alumnae  advisors  of  Randolph-Macon  Woman's  College  held  Tues- 
day, November  4,  the  following  resolutions  were  unanimously 
adopted : 

Whereas,  it  has  pleased  Almighty  God  in  His  providence  to 
remove  from  our  midst  our  esteemed  friend  and  co-laborer,  Dr. 
W.  A.  Webb,  president  or  Randolph-Macon  Woman's  College, 
therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  first,  That  we  bow  in  humble  submission  to  His  sov- 
ereign will  and  realize  that  He  is  "too  wise  to  err,  and  too  kind 
to  be  unkind." 

Resolved,  second,  That  we  desire  to  express  our  appreciation 
of  the  splendid  services  rendered  by  Dr.  Webb  in  the  discharge 
of  the  duties  and  labors  of  his  responsible  office  and  shall  ever 
hold  in  grateful  and  affectionate  remembrance  his  unceasing  in- 
terest in  the  welfare  of  our  college,  his  scholarly  attainments, 
his  unfailing  courtesy,  his  kindly  and  sympathetic  spirit,  and 
above  all,  his  high  Christian  character. 

Resolved,  third.  That  we  assure  the  bereaved  family  of  our 
heartfelt  sympathy  in  their  deep  affliction  and  commend  them  to 
our  Heavenly  Father,  whose  grace  alone  can  bring  them  comfort 
and  resignation. 

Resolved,  fourth.  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions'  be  sent  to 
the  family  of  our  deceased  brother  and  that  a  copy  of  the  same 
be  published  in  The  Sun  Dial,  the  Richmond  Christian  Advo- 
cate, the  Baltimore  Southern  Methodist,  the  Nashville  Christian 
Advocate  and  the  Lynchburg  News. 

EDWARD  F.   SHEFFEY,   Chairman. 
MRS.  W.  J.  D.  BELL,  Secretary. 


Randolph-Macon  Woman's  College  21 

I 

RESOLUTIONS  OF  THE  FACULTY  READ  AT  THE  ME- 
MORIAL SERVICE  FOR  DR.  WEBB  SUNDAY 
EVENING,  NOVEMBER  9,  1919. 

Whereas  it  has  pleased  Almighty  God  to  call  to  himself  our 
friend  and  president,  Dr.  William  A.  Webb,  we,  the  members 
of  the  Faculty  of  Randolph-Macon  Woman's  College,  wish  to 
pay  to  his  memory  our  tribute  of  esteem  and  respect. 

As  our  President  he  always  placed  the  good  of  the  College 
first  in  his  consideration,  and  freely  sacrificed  his  health  and 
strength  in  its  service.  A  true  scholar  in  his  chosen  field  of 
English  and  American  literature,  an  educator  by  tradition,  pref- 
erence and  training,  he  stood  for  high  ideals  of  scholarship  in 
the  councils  of  the  various  educational  associations  of  which  he 
was  a  member,  and  also  in  our  own  institution.  Under  his  ad- 
ministration the  work  of  the  College  proceeded  quietly  and  effi- 
ciently. He  was  ever  ready  to  co-operate  with  us  in  enriching 
our  internal  resources',  human  and  material,  for  educational  pur- 
poses, and  in  perfecting  our  methods  of  procedure.  Also  he  was 
untiring  in  his  efforts  to  secure  high  and  valuable  recognition  of 
the  scholarship  and  standing  of  the  College  in  the  educat'onal 
world,  efforts  which  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  in  large 
measure  crowned  with  success.  During  the  term  of  his  office, 
the  College  was  placed  on  the  list  of  recognized  institutions  by 
the  Association  of  American  Universities,  it  secured  a  chapter 
of  Phi  Beta  Kappa,  and  its  graduates  were  made  eligible  to  mem- 
bership in  the  Association  of  Collegiate  Alumnae. 

As  a  citizen  he  was  much  interested  in  all  questions  of  public 
welfare,  both  national  and  local.  Of  a  deeply  religious  nature, 
he  actively  co-operated  in  the  work  of  the  church.  He  was  a 
tenderly  devoted  husband  and  father,  and  his  personal  life  fur- 
nished an  example  of  pure  and  noble  ideals.  We  felt  that  we  had 
in  him  a  friend,  the  quickness  and  sincerity  of  whose  sympathies 
were  equaled  by  the  unfailing  courtesy  with  which  he  exercised 
them. 


22  Bulletin 

We  deeply  mourn  his  untimely  passing  from  us,  and  we  desire 
to  extend  our  profound  sympathy  to  his  children  and  his  next  of 
km  in  their  great  loss. 

Be  it  resolved'  that  copies  of  this  statement  be  sent  to  his 
family  and  to  the  press,  and  that  a  record  of  it  be  made  in  the 
minutes  of  the  Faculty. 

(Signed)     T.  M.  CAMPBELL, 
E.  B.  CROOKS, 
GILLIE  A.  LAREW, 
Committee. 


RESOLUTIONS  ADOPTED  BY  THE  ALUMNAE  ASSOCI- 
ATION OF  RANDOLPH-MACON  WOMAN'S  COLLEGE. 

The  undersigned  committee  was  appointed  by  the  President 
of  the  Alumnae  Association  of  Randolph-Macon  Woman's  Col- 
lege to  give  some  expression  to  the  grief  and  sense  of  loss  felt 
by  the  members  of  that  association  in  the  death  of  Dr.  William 
A.  Webb,  late  president  of  the  college.  We,  as  alumnae,  are 
deeply  appreciative  of  all  that  Dr.  Webb  did  for  the  scholarly 
standards  and  the  intensive  betterment  of  Randolph-Macon ;  but 
we  feel  at  this  time  especially  anxious  to  voice  our  gratitude  for 
his  services  to  our  own  organization. 

With  no  group  was  Dr.  Webb  more  sympathetic  than  with  the 
alumnae.  Early  in  his  administration  he  made  clear  his  definite 
ambitions  for  us — to  unite  us  for  productive  service  to  our  Alma 
Mater,  and  to  give  us  no  inconsiderable  part  in  the  shaping  of 
her  policies.  So  quietly  did  he  work  for  this  end,  so  generous 
was  he  to  his  fellow-workers,  that  few  outside  a  little  circle  of 
alumnae  officers  realized  the  extent  of  his  activities.  To  our  agi- 
tation for  representation  on  the  Board  of  Trustees  he  gave  a 
cordial  approval;  when  our  alumnae  advisors  were  admitted  to 
the  Executive  Committee  of  the  college,  he  welcomed  them  most 
warmly,  opened  the  affairs  of  the  college  to  them  without  re- 
serve, and  continuously  strengthened  their  service  by  his  loyalty, 


Randolph-Macon  Woman's  College  23 

sympathy,  and  appreciation.  He  took  an  active  part  in  pressing 
our  claims  before  the  Association  of  Collegiate  Alumnae,  and 
he  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  Randolph-Macon  women  finally  ad- 
mitted to  membership  in  that  organization.  In  the  last  months 
of  his  administration,  the  Alumnae  Association  and  the  college 
were  able  to  co-operate  in  establishing  an  alumnae  office  and  em- 
ploying a  secretary.  This  was  very  largely  the  result  of  his- 
initiative  and  interest,  and  it  is  a  great  regret  to  us  that  we  be- 
gan the  active  work  of  the  office  without  his  presence  and  advice. 
To  these  larger  achievements  we  can  add  a  long  list  of  lesser 
services,  all  tending  to  stimulate  and  unite  usl  Not  the  least  was 
his  unshaken  faith  in  our  loyalty,  and  belief  in  our  future. 

We,  the  daughters  of  Randolph-Macon,  have  lost  a  sincere  and 
constant  friend.  We  can  only  trust  we  may  be  able  to  honor  his 
memory  by  perpetuating  in  our  lives  and  the  life  of  our  associa- 
tion the  Christian  virtues  we  saw  in  him — faith,  enthusiasm, 
generosity,  patience,  tolerance,  fairness,  courtesy,  and  love ;  that 
we  may  realize  his  ambitions  for  us,  and  emulate  him  in  devotion 
to  Alma  Mater.  We  mourn  his  passing  with  a  deepening  appre- 
ciation of  his  life  and  service. 

(Signed)     GILLIE  LAREW, 

CLARA  COX  BELL, 
VIRGINIA  HOWLETT, 

Committee. 


RESOLUTIONS  ADOPTED  BY  THE  STUDENT  BODY  OF 
RANDOLPH-MACON  WOMAN'S  COLLEGE. 

Whereas,  God  in  His  infinite  wisdom  and  mercy  has  taken 
from  us  Dr.  Webb,  our  beloved  President ;  and 

Whereas,  We,  the  undersigned,  feel  so  deeply  the  loss  of  our 
leader  and  friend; 

Be  it  Resolved,  First,  that  Ave  hereby  give  expression  to  our 
sorrow  at  his  passing  from  us.  As  a  Christian,  sincere  and  con- 
secrated, he  daily  manifested  in  his  life  the  spirit  of  Christ;  as 


24  Bulletin 

a  man  of  letters,  deeply  interested  in  the  advancement  of  things 
intellectual,  he  held  ever  before  us  the  highest  ideals  of  scholar- 
ship ;  as  a  co-worker  with  the  f acult}^  ever  ready  to  advise  and 
always  willing  to  share  every  responsibility,  he  strove  earnestly 
to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  college;  as  our  President,  Icyal, 
sympathetic,  untiring  in  his  efforts,  ever  responsive  to  all  matters 
pertaining  to  our  good,  deeply  interested  in  our  college  ac- 
tivities and  giving  freely  of  his  best  self  to  us,  he  won  for  him- 
self our  respect,  our  admiration,  and  our  love. 

Second,  that  these  resolutions  be  published  in  the  college 
periodicals.  The  Lynchburg  News,  The  Banner  (Nashville, 
Tenn.),  The  Tennessean  (Nashville,  Tenn.),  The  Nashville  Chris- 
tian Advocate,  The  Greensboro  Christian  Advocate,  The  Rich- 
mond Christian  Advocate,  The  News  and  Observer  (N.  C),  and 
that  a  copy  be  sent  to  the  family  as  an  evidence  of  our  sympathy 
for  them  in  their  sorrow. 

(Signed)     HADLEY  WOODARD. 
MARY  BELL  BIBLE, 
MARTHA  LATHAM, 
Committee. 


3tt  iMfmortam 


MRS.  WILLIAM  ALEXANDER  WEBB 


OCTOBER  17.  1919 


26  Bulletin 


RESOLUTIONS  ADOPTED   BY   THE   EXECUTIVE   COM- 
MITTEE AND  ALUMNAE  ADVISORS  OF  RAN- 
DOLPH-MACON WOMAN'S  COLLEGE. 

Whereas,  Death  has  suddenly  removed  from  our  midst  our 
valued  and  beloved  friend,  Mrs.  Mary  Clary  Webb,  wife  of  Dr. 
W.  A.  Webb,  president  of  Randolph-Macon  Woman's  College; 
therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  First,  that  we  lament  the  passing  of  such  an  ex- 
cellent Christian  woman,  who,  by  her  many  virtues  and  excel- 
lencies, had  endeared  herself  to  all  with  whom  she  was  brought 
into  association. 

Resolved,  Second,  that  we  shall  cherish  the  memory  of  her  un- 
failing interest  in  the  welfare  of  our  college,  the  gracious  cour- 
tesies and  generous  hospitalities  which  she  extended  to  its 
faculty,  students  and  friends,  and  the  cheerful  and  unceasing 
co-operation  with  which  she  entered  into  every  movement  which 
had  for  its  object  the  promotion  of  its  interests. 

Resolved,  Third,  that  we  tender  the  grief-stricken  husband 
and  children,  together  with  all  the  relatives  of  our  departed 
friend,  our  sincerest  sympathy  in  their  sore  bereavement. 

Resolved,  Fourth,  that  these  resolutions  be  sent  to  the  family 
of  the  deceased,  and  that  a  copy  of  the  same  be  published  in 
The  Sun  Dial,  The  Lynchburg  News,  Richmond  Christian  Advo- 
cate, Nashville  Christian  Advocate,  and  recorded  in  the  minutes 
of  our  Executive  Committee. 

(Signed)    EDWARD  F.  SHEFFEY,  Chairman. 
MRS.  W.  J.  D.  BELL,  Secretary. 


Randolph-Macon  Woman's  College  27 


RESOLUTIONS    OF    THE    FACULTY    READ    AT    THE 

MEMORIAL  SERVICE  FOR  MRS.  WEBB  SUNDAY 

EVENING,  OCTOBER  19, 1919. 

Whereas,  death  has  taken  from  us  our  friend,  Mrs.  Mary 
Clary  Webb, 

Be  it  resolved; 

First,  That  in  her  passing  our  institution  and  community 
have  suffered  a  grievous  loss.  Deeply  interested  both  in  the  life 
of  our  student  body  and  in  the  welfare  of  the  college,  she  ever 
manifested  a  spirit  of  loyalty  for  which  she  will  be  held  in 
grateful  remembrance. 

Second,  That  we  have  the  deepest  sympathy  for  the  stricken 
family.  A  devoted  wife  and  a  faithful  mother,  she  spent  herself 
freely  in  creating  the  atmosphere  of  an  ideal  home.  By  words 
of  counsel  and  acts  of  self  denial  she  showed  herself  always 
ready  to  share  the  burdensi  of  those  who  looked  to  her  for  guid- 
ance and  support.  Her  high  ideal  of  Christian  character  and 
her  lofty  conception  of  the  tender  relationship  of  parent  and 
child  called  forth  the  respect  and  affection  of  her  children,  upon 
whose  lives  her  influence  has  left  a  deep  impression. 

Third,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  spread  upon  the 
minutes  of  the  faculty  and  published  in  the  college  periodicals 
and  in  the  Nashville  Advocate  and  that  a  copy  be  sent  to  the 
family  of  the  deceased. 

(Signed)     E.  B.  CROOKS, 

MABEL  K.  WHITESIDE, 
HERBERT  C.  LIPSCOMB. 


28  Bulletin 


RESOLUTIONS  ADOPTED  BY  THE  STUDENT  BODY  OF 
RANDOLPH-MACON  WOMAN'S  COLLEGE. 

Whereas,  Almighty  God  in  His  infinite  wisdom  has  taken  from 
us  Mrs.  William  A.  Webb,  our  friend  and  the  wife  of  our  be- 
loved President;  and 

Whereas,  The  student  body  has  been  saddened  by  the  loss  of 
so  valued  a  member  of  our  college  community; 

Be  it  Resolved,  First,  that  we  hereby  give  expression  to  our 
respect  and  love  for  Mrs.  Webb  as  a  co-operator  with  our  Presi- 
dent in  all  he  undertook.  As  a  devoted  wife  and  as  a  loving  and 
tender  mother,  Mrs.  Webb  won  for  herself  the  admiration  of  the 
entire  student  body.  As  one  ever  anxious  to  promote  our  happi- 
i-ess,  quick  to  understand  and  ready  to  sympathize  she  found  a 
place  in  the  heart  of  every  student.  Always  interested  in  our 
college  activities  and  eager  to  help  us,  she  was  indeed  one  of  our 
sincerest  friends. 

Second,  that  these  resolutions  be  published  in  the  college 
periodicals  and  that  a  copy  be  sent  the  family  of  the  deceased  as 
an  evidence  of  our  love  and  sympathy  for  them  in  their  be- 
reavement. 

(Signed)     HADLEY  WOODARD,  Chairman, 
LAURA  HENDERSON, 
MAUDE  LETSON. 


3  0112  105927716 


